A few days have past on the Island of Bali, I am in Kuta for one week in total and on the 25th of October 2024 (my 10th day in Indonesia) I decided to go to Sanur in the morning for some temple and a potential camel ride.
Sanur and Camel ride
One thing I like doing is to use try out public transport, big fan of trains, subway. In Bali the only means of transport are buses or taxis/motobikes with or without applications. Still I went on a mission to try and test the bus in Bali. I walked out of the hotel probably around 9 am, the heat is already here but I decided to walk for 30 mins around the area and set on a mission to either buy a bus card or top up the one I had in Jakarta if it is possible to use it here.
Turned out to be a difficult tasks, I have tried 3 supermarket/shops K-mart, Alfa market and Indonesia market but none could help me out and were not selling card, they redirected me to one another. After my third attempt where I stoped for a nice Ice coffee and quick bites, I decided that maybe fate didn't want me to test the bus in Bali so I capitulated and ordered a Grab to finish my trip to Sanur.
Grab will end up being my most used app to get around the island, I also downloaded the official taxi app from Bluebird but haven't used it once to date as it usually quotes higher then grab car and most days when not moving my backpack I don't even use a car but a motorbike which is better for traffic when it is not raining, also 3 times cheaper so it is worth it if you travel solo like me.
I found Sanur to be a more quiet area on the east side of the island, many western hotel chains are over there and when I went, not too many people.
The highlight of my trip taking a camel ride along the beach for 15mins or so, I can share a picture of me on that ride, the camel was name Albert apparently and I was the only customer at like 10:30 AM.
Denpasar (capital) for some temples
Another 20 mins or so on a motorbike and I got to a nice temple in the regional capital.
I visited the Bajra Sandhi Monument which was nice, temple like building with a central tower you could climb. Th second floor was also a museum about Indonesia and the dutch during colonial time and battles.
On the way back I opted for a AC car ride as it was going to be an hour long for 13km due to heavy traffic. It was a very nice day again and I am really enjoying my time here.
Discovering the Beach Walk Mall in Kuta
I was so close the the Mall, like 10 mins walk from the hotel to the back entrance (which was actually getting time even to go to the beach as the other option was to go around it), but I waited for my finals days in Kuta to go in. Wish I did that before.
The mall is very modern with AC which is always nice when you have intense heat outside, many places to shop and eat or just have a coffee. On thing I have noticed about mall in Indonesia they have Airport like metal detector when you go in and you have to show what is inside your bag.
They kept a public space on the top floor for people to come and enjoy the sunset which is very nice, I guess that where they got the name for the mall. Lot of the nice spot are used by business and I thought it was nice to have a area where you can seat which has a nice view of the beach for free.
I ended going for lunch, many restaurants are available with traditional food or more western like options, I found some Korean bakery brand I knew from my time in Seoul here which was nice.
Laundry service, pool and massage
Washing clothes is not a problem around Bali, you can find many businesses doing that for 15k to 30k per kilo for express service which is like 1-2USD/kg. There was a laundry business inside of the hotel, don't know if the lady is independent and renting the place or is an employee but the service was great for a few dollars, got mine done within the day, folded and on time.
Very good service for the price, if needed on same day she was offering express service in something like 3 hours.
Anyway I spent the next few days in Kuta around the pool, writing for inleo and listening to the AMA and videos I needed to catch up on.
Conclusion
I am enjoying my time here and I am relaxed, taking the time to write article every 2-3 days on my travel, I might even add some extra articles on top of it. This morning I was going over y stats and goals and I want to reach 72 long form posts by the end of 2024 which according to data from the inleo dashboard should be around another 14 articles. I am currently at 58 without this one so I need to make 6 more for November and 7 for December, little less then 2 a week which should be achievable.
Stay tuned for article #6, probably about my last few days in Kuta and getting ready to move again to another city. You can try and guess in the comments where that will be.
Bonus tip: Don't bring too much clothes in Bali, you can wash easily and buy some over there as a useful souvenir for yourself if you need more.